THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Candidate's Record; Despite Improvements, the Schools In Arkansas Are Still Among Worst

By B. DRUMMOND AYRES Jr.,

Published: April 1, 1992

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—
As he campaigns for President, Gov. Bill Clinton talks a great deal about the importance of education, boasting that "the most important thing" he has accomplished in Arkansas has been improving the schools. If elected, Mr. Clinton says, he will do the same for the nation.

Under Mr. Clinton's leadership, Arkansas has done much to improve its schools -- increasing expenditures, requiring competency testing for teachers, broadening curriculums, setting new academic standards, slowing the dropout rate and encouraging greater college attendance. The effort resulted in part from a court order that instructed the state to improve its education system.

But even with all Mr. Clinton has done in 12 years as Governor, the Arkansas school system, ranked among the worst in the nation when Mr. Clinton first took office, is still near the bottom in most national ratings. And state officials acknowledge that real improvement is years away.

And so Governor Clinton's aides acknowledge that there is no guarantee that his ideas will produce positive results nationally. Running to Stay Even

Since Mr. Clinton took office in 1979, more Arkansans have gone to college. But at the same time, college-admittance test scores have fallen. The state still ranks near the bottom in teachers' pay, 46th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It ranks 48th in spending for each pupil.

By most accounts Mr. Clinton's efforts seem to have simply kept Arkansas, one of the nation's poorest states, from falling even farther behind.

Mr. Clinton and his supporters do not deny that Arkansas continues to lag in many important areas. But they contend that the effort has laid the groundwork for future improvement by focusing a spotlight on an issue that was seldom front and center in this state before the Governor took office.

They also point out that Arkansas, despite its poverty and multitude of competing needs, now commits a larger portion of its budget to education than all but two other states, suggesting that the state is making a concentrated effort to advance education.

"We haven't gone for a hollow, flashy quick-fix," said Bill Bowen, Mr. Clinton's chief of staff. "We've laid a foundation of good programs, and now it's a matter of fine-tuning and waiting for things to come to fruition."

Mr. Clinton's critics contend that much fine-tuning remains. They say the state, one of the least taxed in the nation, must spend even more on schools if it is ever to rise from the bottom ranks of education excellence.

"The bottom line is that Arkansas's standing in most measurements of education quality was on the bottom when Clinton came in, and it's still on the bottom," said Sheffield Nelson, Mr. Clinton's Republican opponent in the 1990 governor's race. "If he can't do any better than that nationally, God help us."

As Governor, Mr. Clinton has contended that Arkansas will never lift itself from poverty without an improved school system. Now, as a candidate for President, he is asserting that the United States cannot continue to be a global power if it does not improve its schools.

If elected President, he says, he would put into place some of the programs and innovations he has emphasized in Arkansas. Many were first suggested by an education study committee that he appointed his wife, Hillary, to head.

In particular, he mentions increasing state financing for Head Start, setting academic achievement standards, seeking new ways to help college students pay education costs and developing job-training programs for high school graduates who do not go on to college.

At home, those programs have often faced major resistances from state legislators, taxpayers and even the state's education establishment. But the Governor, with the help of his wife, has pressed for action on the programs, with mixed results.

To increase school spending, he had to raise the state's sales tax, which hit poor people the hardest. He had been unable to persuade the Legislature to raise other taxes. When he pushed through his proposal to test teachers for competency, some retired and some quit rather than submit. One had just been named "Arkansas Teacher of the Year." Consolidation Hits Roadblock

Mr. Clinton's effort to make schools more efficient by consolidating the unusually large number of school districts has run head-on into local pride and political power. Arkansas had more than 350 school districts 10 years ago and still has almost that number.

When Mr. Clinton first moved into the Governor's office, Arkansas's education rankings were not just at the bottom. One study, produced at the University of Florida in 1978, concluded that Arkansas schools were the very worst in the nation.

In the absence of a new study, it is hard to say whether Arkansas schools may still be considered the worst Despite considerable improvement in the schools under Mr. Clinton's guidance, however, the state still ranks near the bottom on many of the charts that measure education quality nationally.

For example, in 1979 the cummulative test scores of Arkansas students who took one popular college-admittance test ranked 20th of 28 states. The state ranked 50th of 50 states and the District of Columbia in expenditure for each pupil in elementary and secondary schools. It ranked 51st in teacher salaries.